Poker

[Tom Halsey]

Because judging from your description of him, he will bet close to 100% of the time if you check, and if this is true then checking every single hand in your range has to be at least co-optimal.

[Days of Grace]

Because judging from your description of him, he will bet close to 100% of the time if you check, and if this is true then checking every single hand in your range has to be at least co-optimal.

True. After all, I wasn't the leader in the hand, since I only called his pre-flop overbet.

Anyway i went all-in on the turn and he calls and turns over two low cards, making a straight. Whoops.

What I am asking is if I could have played the hand better. I guess checking the flop could have been the answer, even if it would have given him his straight card anyway. At least I wouldn't have been compelled to go all-in.

[Tom Halsey]

You could have played the hand better (shove preflop, check the flop), but not because of the results. Being results-orientated is one of the worst ways you can think in poker (and in life generally) because in the short term there is so much luck. You might, hypothetically, make a play that is totally standard but simply doesn't work out because the villain shows up with one of the few hands you don't want to see, but that doesn't mean that the play was wrong.

In this case given everything that has happened up until the turn you can't do anything else other than shove. His flop call (I assume he had 63) is absolutely terribad fwiw.

[Days of Grace]

Yes, I totally understand that poker is more about making good decisions than how many hands/money you win. So, I was just asking for advice regarding my decisions on the hand.

I just went all-in on Zynga poker with AK (play money btw), got called by some nut with 92. The flop pairs my king, but the turn and the river were 92. I don't mind bad beats when I knew I played the hand correctly.

[Days of Grace]

Another horrible night last night.

As usual, four player NL with some fairly loose players.


Highlights were getting pocket aces and getting another ace on the river whilst my opponent got a set of queen's on the river. Got paid off nicely.

But throughout the night I was calling on speculative hands, trying to use my bigger stack to look at more flops, but none of them hit me, ao I folded to a lot of post-flop bets.

I was accused of being a nit throughout the night but one guy in particular gives me trouble. He will raise almost all my bets and or just call me down until he hits a card.

Very frustrating.

How can I stop being a nit? 3-bet on a range of cards and get caught a couple of times bluffing? Raise pre-flop more often, no matter what I have?

[AndyZaltzHair]

Anyone on Pokerstars?

[Daemon]

Need some tips. I've been playing cash games with a bunch of guys recently. 10 bucks buy in, rebuys up to the highest stack. There's usually 6 of us.

It always starts off well for me but there are these two aggressive guys who when they are low/out keep rebuying in up to the highest stack and they keep straddling and restraddling the more beers/weed they get into their system.

I limit myself to 20 euros a night just like the other 3 players but these 2 guys rebuy in with 50s and stuff and basically milk all the other players till they're out and then go head to head with like 300 on the table.

What approach should I take here? Keeping in mind I'm just an average player.

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Best advice is don't play, you obviously don't have the mentality to beat them.

[Daemon]

Best advice is don't play, you obviously don't have the mentality to beat them.

That's fair, but I don't mind spending 10-20 just to have a chill night out so I'll keep going.

[AndyZaltzHair]

Need some tips. I've been playing cash games with a bunch of guys recently. 10 bucks buy in, rebuys up to the highest stack. There's usually 6 of us.

It always starts off well for me but there are these two aggressive guys who when they are low/out keep rebuying in up to the highest stack and they keep straddling and restraddling the more beers/weed they get into their system.

I limit myself to 20 euros a night just like the other 3 players but these 2 guys rebuy in with 50s and stuff and basically milk all the other players till they're out and then go head to head with like 300 on the table.

What approach should I take here? Keeping in mind I'm just an average player.

Probably a good opportunity if this happens regularly. From my personal experience against the maniacs is that you will come out on top overall if you play regularly against them. Your hands might get busted two days in a row but you will be winning from the third day onwards if the hands played correctly. If it's a non regular thing then probably it's safe not to take them on.

Personally if they became hyper aggressive, I would have only played the hands that I'm comfortable with shoving all in and the range would increase against them particularly. Probably all pairs of 6s to Aces and any pairings of 10s to Aces like JQ/K10 etc against them. Have to be careful with the pre flop all in plays because there are other players at the table who might catch your Q10 all in before them. Shove all in when you are in position mostly after the aggressors' pre flop raises. They might not call your bets if they realize what is happening after some time so if you can convince them that you are not only shoving your superior hands, they will be in dilemma. Maybe go all in with lower pairs like 55/44 or Q9/J9 sometimes to mix it up. Also if they dont call your lower hands, show them the cards after folds if rules allow. Also calling with any card with Ace works against aggressors' continuous all ins as you have the higher kicker in Ace. These are just my thoughts and I would have played like this against them.

[Furball]

Need some tips. I've been playing cash games with a bunch of guys recently. 10 bucks buy in, rebuys up to the highest stack. There's usually 6 of us.

It always starts off well for me but there are these two aggressive guys who when they are low/out keep rebuying in up to the highest stack and they keep straddling and restraddling the more beers/weed they get into their system.

I limit myself to 20 euros a night just like the other 3 players but these 2 guys rebuy in with 50s and stuff and basically milk all the other players till they're out and then go head to head with like 300 on the table.

What approach should I take here? Keeping in mind I'm just an average player.

Play good cards, fold bad ones.

[AndyZaltzHair]

Tournaments can be very frustrating at times. Finished just behind the last pay out (online play money deep stack) place even though had large stack. The guy just right beside me was raising every hand in position. Tried to bully him and pushed all in with Q9o. We had similar stack and positioned 6th/7th in the tourney. He called with 44 and won.

[Dan]

You've got to:

• Know when to hold 'em;
• Know when to fold 'em;
• Know when to walk away; and
• Know when to run.

And never count your money when you're sitting at the table. You can do that when the dealing is done.

Simple.